U.S. brokers Ukraine-Russia prisoner swap, but peace not in sight

Detailed summary

The U.S. has helped broker a new Ukraine-Russia prisoner exchange and diplomacy will continue, but there's no sign of a breakthrough on a wider peace deal.

Officials at U.S.-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine said Wednesday the two sides had agreed to a large exchange of prisoners of war. Russia's demand to have its seizure of a huge swath of eastern Ukraine recognized as legitimate appeared to remain a key hurdle on the path to any breakthrough on a wider peace deal, however.

"One of the positives is we agreed that we're going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners, which we're going to finalize the numbers tomorrow," Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and one of the two senior U.S. negotiators at the meetings, said after the two days of talks in Abu Dhabi ended.

Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, and Rustem Umerov, who led Kyiv's delegation in Abu Dhabi, confirmed the planned exchange.

Hopes had been low for any major breakthroughs in the first meeting in nine months between the delegations. Russia and Ukraine have from time to time swapped prisoners during their nearly five-year war.

U.S. officials have said they are determined to revive Washington's peace efforts, which so far have failed to deliver significant results. Kushner said he and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff would travel to Moscow Thursday to meet with President Vladimir Putin, then fly to Dublin to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Putin's senior aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters the U.S. envoys would arrive in Moscow Thursday morning and meet with Putin in the first half of the day.

Asked if there were plans to discuss any major new proposals, including on the dispute over Russia's claim to Ukrainian territory, or security guarantees for both countries, Ushakov said the results of the negotiations in Abu Dhabi were yet to be fully understood in Moscow, but he added that Russia believed Kushner and Witkoff were "bringing something with them."

Medinsky, speaking later to Russia's Vesti program, said Russia and Ukraine had moved closer to peace following the talks, but that much would still depend on…

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